THE BIG DEAL: PART 16
Hey, boys and girls. Whipped this up lastnight and Tahni approves so here we go!
Olivia and Cherry sat at the small, round dining table; Olivia sat close to the sobbing Cherry with her arms wrapped around her neck shushing her. Across the room Haze and Sweet sat on either side of the coffee table, acoustic guitars and Haze's acoustic bass close by. Haze always looked a little uncomfortable and confused when Cherry cried. Sweet didn't seem to even notice she was in the room. Nothing could really distract him when he was in the middle of writing a new song. That was, nothing except the sound that came next.
Sweet's phone began to vibrate itself into a circle while John Lennon's "Oh My Love" emitted from the tiny speaker. Haze's head perked up like a gopher from its hole, and with wide-eyes he turned to Olivia. Olivia's hand stopped mid-pat on Cherry's back and she gasped audibly. Sweet stopped strumming but did not look up. Haze turned to Sweet, knowing the ringer well. Cherry could not help noticing that her three friends all seemed as if they had just seen the same ghost. She, however, was out of the loop. All that she knew was that she had never heard that particular ringtone come from Sweet's cellphone. The song looped a second time and Sweet grabbed it from the table and walked into the kitchen. Haze, Cherry, and Olivia listened as acutely as they could to the one side of the conversation they could hear. Haze joined Olivia at the table and held her hand; they looked nervous. Cherry did not dare utter a word. She had never seen her friends act like this in all the time she had known them. The closest she could remember was when they awaited the call from the A&R rep from the major label they were hoping to get signed to, and even then they were not nearly this nervous.
"Hey," Sweet sounded calm, but hesitant, "She's fine. Bawling her eyes out, but that's nothing out of the ordinary."
Cherry unfortunately knew he must be referring to her, but why on earth would a mysterious person be calling about Cherry? Who in the world cared about her apart from the people in this room?
"Sorry about that. She has a tendency to do that. She'll be fine. This happens all the time... When? ... You'd be right to assume that... Ok, as long as it's away from shark-infested waters."
Sweet seemed oddly at ease on the phone. Normally his conversations lasted mere seconds and he hardly said a word, but looked annoyed the whole time. Haze and Olivia were staring at one another with great intensity. Unlike Cherry, they seemed to be catching on to exactly what was going on. When they heard Sweet open the refrigerator door, Olivia and Haze let go of one another's hands and Haze retreated to the couch where he had been when Sweet left. Moments later, Sweet reentered the room, tossing his phone onto the recliner and picking up his acoustic guitar.
"Stop being weird." he commanded to all in the room.
"It is a little weird, dude." Haze replied.
"Not at all."
"Why do you still--" Haze was cut off.
"Drop it."
"Sweet..." Olivia's sweet voice hummed.
"Livvy. Dear, sweet Olivia, do not give me a reason to fire your boyfriend. You? You, I'll never fire. Haze? He's been asking for it for years."
Olivia bit her lip and stood to her feet, heading into the kitchen. Cherry felt awkward. She was dying to ask Sweet what was going on. She felt she had a right because he had been talking about her. She was too confused to be offended by what he said on the phone. However, she knew Sweet and that asking him would probably end in trouble. Instead, Cherry decided to follow Olivia into the kitchen; perhaps she would have more luck there.
Before she had vanished from the room, Sweet addressed her, "And you, Cherry. Are you going to live? Is your heart broken forever?"
"Yes."
"It is?"
"No. No, I mean, I'll live. I'm fine. I don't care one way or the other about Dev, Sweet. You know that." she lied, gulping air to keep her tears down.
"That's what I like to hear," He smiled and looked down at his guitar. Cherry turned to leave, "except we all know that's not true."
She paused for a second but decided to keep walking.
"Olivia."
"No, Cherry."
"But he was talking about me! Doesn't that give me some sort of right?"
"No. Not in Sweet's world and you live in his world, not yours. The day you get sick of the rules according to Sweet... well, that's the day you should start looking for a new gig."
Cherry did not like the sound of that; it made her stomach churn. She was angry that she wasn't allowed to know what was going on. Times like this she felt like she was still alone. She tried to ease her mind by telling herself maybe he wasn't really talking about her.
She was brought back to reality by Olivia calling out to the boys in the living room, "You guys want dinner?"
"No." Haze replied.
"I didn't think so." she responded, mostly to herself, "Just us tonight Cherry. Tofu stir-fry ok with you?"
The sound of Olivia's vegan cooking made Cherry's stomach churn even more. She smiled and nodded, but internally plotted to sneak out for a burger later. As upset as she was, the sound of songs she had never heard, but could not wait to play, coming from Sweet's guitar made her feel safe. She knew she needed to come to terms with the fact that she was just not supposed to know much about him. She knew that she should be intrigued by the mystery, like in all of those trashy romance novels she used to read. She amused herself, painting a picture of herself and Sweet on the paper cover, surrounded by swirls of purple and pink, Sweet's long blonde hair brushing his bare shoulders. She laughed to herself. The men on the covers of those books were usually large with mountainous muscles; Sweet would make the worst cover boy for a romance novel. She did not care. Suddenly the happy thought bubble was burst by the sound of Sweet carelessly strumming the guitar and setting it to rest against the table.
"We're going."
"Have fun!" Olivia called back.
"B-but...where?"
"You know those two. Always up to something," she tried to put her worried friend at ease, cutting tofu into rubbery cubes, "Help me chop things. That will get your mind off of silly boys."
Sweet handed Haze the keys to his car.
"Where exactly are we going?"
"I need food that isn't made of cardboard."
"Oh. I figured that maybe..."
"No. Not tonight. Clockwork's in town, remember?"
"You never deleted the number. Or that song."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious. I meant to. I just never expected it to ring again. Figured I was safe."
"But you have to see it every time you go through your contacts."
"If you haven't known me at all for the past 9 years, I don't really spend a lot of time going through my phone book entries. It's not the first time, anyway. I met up with her one of our nights off - the one right before the whole Cherry-on-YouTube debacle."
Haze was stunned. The boys went to their favorite pizza place and ordered a few large pies and pitchers of beer and Sweet relayed the entire phone call to Haze, as well as the story of this secret rendezvous.
Back at the house, Cherry picked at her tofu with her fork while Olivia sat cross-legged on the couch gobbling hers down with chopsticks. Olivia was watching some black and white love story on one of the classic movie channels. Cherry thought that was the last thing she needed. She decided what she did need was to at least talk about what had happened earlier that night now that Haze and Sweet were gone. She knew Olivia was nearly as disgusted with her as the boys, but she was her only girl friend and she needed to vent.
"I got in a fight with Dev."
Olivia picked at her dinner, fitting a large hunk of broccoli into her mouth.
"I know."
"It was about his sister."
"That seems to be what everyone fights with Dev over."
"She said our band was unrefined. I made a remark about her sleeping with Sweet not making her an authority on the band."
"And you aren't an authority on Lucy and Sweet just because you know they slept together."
"I get that. Only Dev used fewer words and was much angrier."
"I can imagine. He's very over-protective of Lucy. You really should just stick to what you know."
"That's the thing, Olivia! I know nothing! No one will tell me anything! I used to feel like this was my home, but I'm starting to feel like an outsider here too!"
"You haven't made things easy for yourself lately, Cherry."
The arguing stopped when the girls heard the doors of Sweet's car shut. The front door opened and the boys entered, laughing about old gigs and girls.
"I'm sorry, Olivia" Sweet laughed, "but Don Gino's Pizza beats your tofu stir-fry without the slightest bit of contest."
"And I see his beer's not too bad either." She giggled at the obviously inebriated Sweet.
"Not at all. I'm now going to pass out in that there Lazy Boy. Sing me to sleep?" He pouted his lips, giving Olivia puppy dog eyes.
Sweet plopped himself down and reclined the chair. Olivia handed Cherry an afghan.
"He'll need a blankie, "She whispered, winking at Cherry and turning to take the dishes to the kitchen before joining Haze in the bedroom.
"Aww thanks, sweet thing. Sweet thing? Sweet's thing?" he drunkenly rambled to himself as Cherry covered him up with the blanket.
"You're welcome." She said, biting her lip and returning to the couch. She knew he was drunk, but could not stop her heart from fluttering at the thought of being Sweet's thing. She would now pretend to watch the TV while secretly watching Sweet sleep until she too would eventually pass out on Haze and Olivia's couch. She wished they had brought her some pizza.
Olivia and Cherry sat at the small, round dining table; Olivia sat close to the sobbing Cherry with her arms wrapped around her neck shushing her. Across the room Haze and Sweet sat on either side of the coffee table, acoustic guitars and Haze's acoustic bass close by. Haze always looked a little uncomfortable and confused when Cherry cried. Sweet didn't seem to even notice she was in the room. Nothing could really distract him when he was in the middle of writing a new song. That was, nothing except the sound that came next.
Sweet's phone began to vibrate itself into a circle while John Lennon's "Oh My Love" emitted from the tiny speaker. Haze's head perked up like a gopher from its hole, and with wide-eyes he turned to Olivia. Olivia's hand stopped mid-pat on Cherry's back and she gasped audibly. Sweet stopped strumming but did not look up. Haze turned to Sweet, knowing the ringer well. Cherry could not help noticing that her three friends all seemed as if they had just seen the same ghost. She, however, was out of the loop. All that she knew was that she had never heard that particular ringtone come from Sweet's cellphone. The song looped a second time and Sweet grabbed it from the table and walked into the kitchen. Haze, Cherry, and Olivia listened as acutely as they could to the one side of the conversation they could hear. Haze joined Olivia at the table and held her hand; they looked nervous. Cherry did not dare utter a word. She had never seen her friends act like this in all the time she had known them. The closest she could remember was when they awaited the call from the A&R rep from the major label they were hoping to get signed to, and even then they were not nearly this nervous.
"Hey," Sweet sounded calm, but hesitant, "She's fine. Bawling her eyes out, but that's nothing out of the ordinary."
Cherry unfortunately knew he must be referring to her, but why on earth would a mysterious person be calling about Cherry? Who in the world cared about her apart from the people in this room?
"Sorry about that. She has a tendency to do that. She'll be fine. This happens all the time... When? ... You'd be right to assume that... Ok, as long as it's away from shark-infested waters."
Sweet seemed oddly at ease on the phone. Normally his conversations lasted mere seconds and he hardly said a word, but looked annoyed the whole time. Haze and Olivia were staring at one another with great intensity. Unlike Cherry, they seemed to be catching on to exactly what was going on. When they heard Sweet open the refrigerator door, Olivia and Haze let go of one another's hands and Haze retreated to the couch where he had been when Sweet left. Moments later, Sweet reentered the room, tossing his phone onto the recliner and picking up his acoustic guitar.
"Stop being weird." he commanded to all in the room.
"It is a little weird, dude." Haze replied.
"Not at all."
"Why do you still--" Haze was cut off.
"Drop it."
"Sweet..." Olivia's sweet voice hummed.
"Livvy. Dear, sweet Olivia, do not give me a reason to fire your boyfriend. You? You, I'll never fire. Haze? He's been asking for it for years."
Olivia bit her lip and stood to her feet, heading into the kitchen. Cherry felt awkward. She was dying to ask Sweet what was going on. She felt she had a right because he had been talking about her. She was too confused to be offended by what he said on the phone. However, she knew Sweet and that asking him would probably end in trouble. Instead, Cherry decided to follow Olivia into the kitchen; perhaps she would have more luck there.
Before she had vanished from the room, Sweet addressed her, "And you, Cherry. Are you going to live? Is your heart broken forever?"
"Yes."
"It is?"
"No. No, I mean, I'll live. I'm fine. I don't care one way or the other about Dev, Sweet. You know that." she lied, gulping air to keep her tears down.
"That's what I like to hear," He smiled and looked down at his guitar. Cherry turned to leave, "except we all know that's not true."
She paused for a second but decided to keep walking.
"Olivia."
"No, Cherry."
"But he was talking about me! Doesn't that give me some sort of right?"
"No. Not in Sweet's world and you live in his world, not yours. The day you get sick of the rules according to Sweet... well, that's the day you should start looking for a new gig."
Cherry did not like the sound of that; it made her stomach churn. She was angry that she wasn't allowed to know what was going on. Times like this she felt like she was still alone. She tried to ease her mind by telling herself maybe he wasn't really talking about her.
She was brought back to reality by Olivia calling out to the boys in the living room, "You guys want dinner?"
"No." Haze replied.
"I didn't think so." she responded, mostly to herself, "Just us tonight Cherry. Tofu stir-fry ok with you?"
The sound of Olivia's vegan cooking made Cherry's stomach churn even more. She smiled and nodded, but internally plotted to sneak out for a burger later. As upset as she was, the sound of songs she had never heard, but could not wait to play, coming from Sweet's guitar made her feel safe. She knew she needed to come to terms with the fact that she was just not supposed to know much about him. She knew that she should be intrigued by the mystery, like in all of those trashy romance novels she used to read. She amused herself, painting a picture of herself and Sweet on the paper cover, surrounded by swirls of purple and pink, Sweet's long blonde hair brushing his bare shoulders. She laughed to herself. The men on the covers of those books were usually large with mountainous muscles; Sweet would make the worst cover boy for a romance novel. She did not care. Suddenly the happy thought bubble was burst by the sound of Sweet carelessly strumming the guitar and setting it to rest against the table.
"We're going."
"Have fun!" Olivia called back.
"B-but...where?"
"You know those two. Always up to something," she tried to put her worried friend at ease, cutting tofu into rubbery cubes, "Help me chop things. That will get your mind off of silly boys."
Sweet handed Haze the keys to his car.
"Where exactly are we going?"
"I need food that isn't made of cardboard."
"Oh. I figured that maybe..."
"No. Not tonight. Clockwork's in town, remember?"
"You never deleted the number. Or that song."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious. I meant to. I just never expected it to ring again. Figured I was safe."
"But you have to see it every time you go through your contacts."
"If you haven't known me at all for the past 9 years, I don't really spend a lot of time going through my phone book entries. It's not the first time, anyway. I met up with her one of our nights off - the one right before the whole Cherry-on-YouTube debacle."
Haze was stunned. The boys went to their favorite pizza place and ordered a few large pies and pitchers of beer and Sweet relayed the entire phone call to Haze, as well as the story of this secret rendezvous.
Back at the house, Cherry picked at her tofu with her fork while Olivia sat cross-legged on the couch gobbling hers down with chopsticks. Olivia was watching some black and white love story on one of the classic movie channels. Cherry thought that was the last thing she needed. She decided what she did need was to at least talk about what had happened earlier that night now that Haze and Sweet were gone. She knew Olivia was nearly as disgusted with her as the boys, but she was her only girl friend and she needed to vent.
"I got in a fight with Dev."
Olivia picked at her dinner, fitting a large hunk of broccoli into her mouth.
"I know."
"It was about his sister."
"That seems to be what everyone fights with Dev over."
"She said our band was unrefined. I made a remark about her sleeping with Sweet not making her an authority on the band."
"And you aren't an authority on Lucy and Sweet just because you know they slept together."
"I get that. Only Dev used fewer words and was much angrier."
"I can imagine. He's very over-protective of Lucy. You really should just stick to what you know."
"That's the thing, Olivia! I know nothing! No one will tell me anything! I used to feel like this was my home, but I'm starting to feel like an outsider here too!"
"You haven't made things easy for yourself lately, Cherry."
The arguing stopped when the girls heard the doors of Sweet's car shut. The front door opened and the boys entered, laughing about old gigs and girls.
"I'm sorry, Olivia" Sweet laughed, "but Don Gino's Pizza beats your tofu stir-fry without the slightest bit of contest."
"And I see his beer's not too bad either." She giggled at the obviously inebriated Sweet.
"Not at all. I'm now going to pass out in that there Lazy Boy. Sing me to sleep?" He pouted his lips, giving Olivia puppy dog eyes.
Sweet plopped himself down and reclined the chair. Olivia handed Cherry an afghan.
"He'll need a blankie, "She whispered, winking at Cherry and turning to take the dishes to the kitchen before joining Haze in the bedroom.
"Aww thanks, sweet thing. Sweet thing? Sweet's thing?" he drunkenly rambled to himself as Cherry covered him up with the blanket.
"You're welcome." She said, biting her lip and returning to the couch. She knew he was drunk, but could not stop her heart from fluttering at the thought of being Sweet's thing. She would now pretend to watch the TV while secretly watching Sweet sleep until she too would eventually pass out on Haze and Olivia's couch. She wished they had brought her some pizza.